Easy step-by-step guide?

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by tepe2, Dec 26, 2006.

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  1. tepe2

    tepe2 Registered Member

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    Where can I find an easy step-by-step guide for ATI 10. I consider downloading a 15 day trial. I hope 15 days will be enough for me to learn about ATI. I never know from day to day how much time available for me to spend in front of the computer. Thats why I ask for such a guide. The user guide at acronis.com is almost 100 pages with a lot of stuff I probably dont need.

    Here are my needs:

    I only want to create images of partitions, no schedule, no incremental. (Probably the safest to do for a novice, right?)

    I want to create image of my int.drive 250 GB to my ext.drive 500 GB.


    Int.250GB:

    -C: total 48 GB - (36 GB free, 12 GB used) - system

    -D: total 184 GB - (110 GB free, 74 GB used)


    Ext.drive MyBook 500 GB (usb/firewire) - 4 part.:

    -K: 65 GB
    -L: 200 GB
    -M: 100 GB
    -N: 100 GB


    All part. on both drive are NTFS. Ext.drive is new, no data, only free space.

    First I want to create image of C: - store this on K:

    Then create image of D: - store this on L:

    To make sure everything is fine and working, I want to restore image at K: to M:

    Then restore image at L: to N:

    If this works and my int.drive breakes down, can I boot from my ext.drive? How to check? In BIOS?

    Thank you so much:)
     
  2. Ralphie

    Ralphie Registered Member

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    I think the general consensus is that Windows cannot yet be booted from an external drive even if the Bios supports booting from the external. I may be wrong but .... to make life easier, get a second internal drive of about 80 gig and put it in a removable tray and use it to check your Restores. Most modern bioses will let you specify which device to boot from first. Once your restored drive boots you can remove it and store it away safely somewhere.

    For your non-booting D partition, of course you can restore it to any of your other partitions to see if everything gets restored properly.
     
  3. Mr Bill

    Mr Bill Registered Member

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    Yes, it is possible to use the external hard drive as a total replacement / backup unit if your internal C drive crashed and you were no longer able to boot into Windows. This is called making a mirror image of your hard drive.

    You can do this if:

    a) your external hard drive is as big or bigger than your internal hard drive, and

    b) you use a disk imager like Acronis True Image to make a "mirror copy" or "disk copy" from the internal hard drive (C drive) to the external USB drive (D drive, for example). A mirror copy essentially copies the *entire* drive from one to the next.

    Also very important Based on your statement, you will need to modify your boot sequence so that your external hard drive does not always try to boot first. Otherwise, you will be booting off your external hard drive after your first mirror copy is completed. This is not what you want, because any changes to the system will be done to your backup drive instead of your internal PC hard drive.
     
  4. tepe2

    tepe2 Registered Member

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    Thanks to both of you for your information:)

    I will consider your solutions, and see what I end up with.

    Guess this means that I have to copy/mirror both C: and D: of my internal drive to my external drive. And that I could not get use of all the remaining free space at the external drive.

    "Mirror image" could be a good thing if I could mirror only my C: to the K: on my external drive. Other thing I dont like is that my ext. drive would have to be connected all the time. Right or wrong?

    What do other people do in case of disaster? I know that a lot of ATI users store image/backup on ext. drive.

    Anyone know about a "step-by-step" guide?
     
  5. tepe2

    tepe2 Registered Member

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    Lets forget about the D: partition on my internal drive, for now. (I dont have to use ATI to backup this one, it includes "MyDocuments" with music, pictures etc. So I could use almost any backup program for this).

    I create an image of C: and save this on my external drive.
    I restore this to another partition on my external drive to see if it works (how do I do that?)
    Lets say it works fine
    My internal drive goes corrupt
    I replace it with a new internal drive

    What to do now?

    Would it be possible, and how, to startup/boot with a cd (ATI or BartPE), and somehow restore the image to the new drive? In that case everything should be like before. If not, what will I have to do?
     
  6. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hello tepe2,

    Whilst this <fully illustrated tutorial> is specific to TI 9.0 Home, you will find that much of it can be read across to TI 10 Home.

    Regards
     
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